Limited Cost Study Finds NCLB Underfunded
On March 2, 2005, the Connecticut State Department
of Education released a limited study of the state-level
administrative costs of implementing NCLB. A study of
the related local administrative costs is due to be
released in April 2005. The study was admittedly narrow
and failed to consider the costs of raising student
achievement to the 100 percent proficiency required
by NCLB. It found that the total cost of implementing
the administrative aspects of NCLB through fiscal year
2008 will be $112.2 million, of which the federal government
is expected to provide $70.6 million. Therefore, Connecticut
faces a shortfall of $41.6 million.
Specific Costs Studied
The study focused on seven different components, including:
standards and assessments; development and administration
of the NCLB testing system; transfers and supplemental
educational services (SES); and others. The study employed
an “activity-based” methodology that examined
the costs of specific tasks undertaken by Department
of Education employees in order to comply with NCLB.
This methodology was developed by the Denver-based firm
of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates for the Council
of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Connecticut
conducted the study in conjunction with a consortium
of 12 states brought together by the CCSSO. CCSSO requires
that the identity of the other states remain confidential.
Costs Not Studied
This study does not assess the cost of narrowing the
achievement gap, i.e. of bringing students to the level
at which they will pass state academic standards. As
the report points out, “NCLB does not mandate
prevention/intervention/school reform actions prior
to a school’s or district’s failure to meet
AYP [adequate yearly progress].” Therefore the
costs of prospective programs proven to narrow achievement
gaps, such as preschool, are not examined in this analysis.
In fact, in the afterword Connecticut Commissioner of
Education Dr. Betty Sternberg expressed her opinion
that instead of complying with these administrative
components of NCLB, the additional $41.6 million would
be better spent on programs that would address the achievement
gap. She stated that she preferred to use the money
in “much better ways – ways that would truly
leave no child behind.”
Commissioner Sternberg’s comments echo the observations
of education finance expert William J. Mathis in an
April 21, 2004 Commentary in Education Week.
There, he remarked that “If we embrace the moral
principle that no child is to be left behind, haggling
over the costs of program administration is the least
important of questions…Instead, our abiding question
should be what it costs to teach the children.”
Testing and Technical Assistance Top the Cost
List
The two most costly areas were standards and assessments,
and technical assistance.
The analysis found that the cost of developing individual
grade level standards, previously done in grade clusters
in Connecticut, and the development and administration
of new tests for NCLB would total $41.6 million dollars
through FY08. Connecticut has been testing students
for twenty years in grades 4, 6, and 8. Now, under NCLB,
the state must develop and administer tests in grades
3, 5, and 7 as well. Under a state law passed in June
2004, Connecticut has prohibited the use of state funds
to develop and administer any new tests required by
NCLB.
In January 2005, Dr. Sternberg requested a waiver from
the additional tests, explaining that additional tests
will not tell her something she does not already know
about struggling schools in the state. She expressed
her preference for fewer and better tests, tests that
would be “instructional tools rather than accountability
indicators.” The U.S. Department of Education
denied that request on February 28.
The second highest cost item was technical assistance
to those schools and districts judged “in need
of improvement.” That cost totals $18 million
through fiscal year 2008. Connecticut has estimated
that as NCLB progresses, more schools will fail to make
AYP, from the current number, 93, to 167 in fiscal year
2006, and still more in fiscal year 2008. Most other
states have made similar predictions.
Recommendations
The report concludes that NCLB is underfunded and makes
two recommendations (1) seeking additional funds for
NCLB implementation, especially for the two most costly
items, and (2) reallocating existing funds. In the meantime,
the report makes clear that Connecticut is investing
in research-proven initiatives, independent of NCLB,
which it believes will narrow the achievement gap. These
programs include: preschool, after-school programs,
class size reduction, and summer school or summer leadership
activities.
Prepared by Wendy C. Lecker, March 14, 2004
|
